Bavafa

آشنا thanks for the picture.

I said you could "start" your hike from the scout statue in Darband and hike to pass-ghaleh.  Somewhere along the way you'd reach that rope bolted to the stone rocks and "climb" horizontally!

I think you could also start from Manzariyeh towards Kolak-Chal and make a turn half way along the way to go to pass-ghaleh.

I don't know if kolak-chal trail is open anymore, it was closed right after revolution for Khomeini's Jamaran area and I think people hike these days "starting" from Darband.  Although, I could be wrong and the Kolak-chal trail from Manzariyeh is open again.

Thanks for the picture. 

Everything is sacred

Wrong picture Esfand

ُSorry, the picture you sent to Bavafa is not Pass-Ghaleh but Sare-band in Darband. Here is pass-Ghaleh painted by Kamalelmolk:

//www.goonagoon.org/SubjectForPrint.aspx?key=6249 

A great heart felt blog...

     Bavafa jaan,

     Here is what Steve Job had to say in harmony with your thoughts:

'Remembering That You Are Going To Die Is The Best Way I Know To Avoid The Trap Of Thinking You Have Something To Lose'

Esfand Jaan: You ought to know...

$$$ or fame is not the motivation as you will not find any one that has got rich because of it.  It is the love of it that keeps bringing you back to the mountain and the only thing holding you back is the old age.  Ask me how I know this :)

'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory 

Mehrdad

He said he was going to stop one of these days.

It would be a shame and very sad if he made a mistake or something.  I think he has achieved enough already and I'd stop and do other stuff in mountain climbing.  By now he can make a good living and a career out of it!

Tom Cruise is also a good free style climber in the Mission Impossible movies!  He is climbing hi rises in the latest trailers for his upcoming movie this December!  Maybe he can be a body double for his movies! 

Everything is sacred

Esfand Jaan: I have known Alex since he was a kid….

And he would come to the climbing gym with his late father 4-5 times a week.  And to watch him climb is just amazing.   He is the most humbled climber I have ever known and the coolest guy.  But I do hope and wish he would stop the free climbs that he has been doing as you don’t get a second chance with this type.

  There are more amazing video of him on youtube if you are interested in climbing and what a human can do?

'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory 

Mehrdad

BTW you may be interested in Alex Honnold.

If you haven't heard of him or watched The ascent of Alex Honnold, you may want to watch it.  It is a CBS News 60 Minutes report and he is really something, one of a kind!

Everything is sacred

Esfand Jaan: Oh, the good memories of climbing in Iran…

Now I remember, though still not by the name but the mountain as it was one of my early climbs outside of my home town in Iran, along with Damavand.

  Thanks for the pix and bringing good memories.

'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory 

Mehrdad

پسّ قلعه نمیدونی‌ کجاست؟!

Pass-ghalleh was a hike in northern Tehran mountains which we used to go when we were kids in 70s.

You could start from the Boyscout Statue in Darband (although you could've use other trails) and hike for couple hours and then you stop for a break and have some hot lobiya (beans) and addasi (lentils) with olive oil and then you'd go rock climbing in Pass-ghalleh from there!

It wasn't like this picture but they had bolted some ropes into rock and we'd hold on to the rope and walk across the stone mountains while looking below to the canyon!  It was a horizontal "climbing" unlike this vertical one you did!

Everything is sacred

Thanks Esfand Jaan for the tip...

I am not any good with photography and most of the pictures comes out as if we are crawling on the ice or rock :)  But it always brings good memories back.

With most multi pitch climbs, the usual way is to walk down and if that is not possible or easy then rappel down.  We walk down this which is a three pitch climb.

 'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory 

Mehrdad

P.S. BTW, what is a Pass-Ghalleh ?

Bavafa jaan I thought that was Pass-Ghalleh!

That's a nice picture!  Did you climb back or walk back?!

A tip about i.com, like many things here we're bound by limitations!  When you post a photo blog I suggest using a "portrait" photo instead of the traditional "landscape".

If you post landscape the pic will become very small, 460 pixel X 680 or whatever the photo size is identified.

So in this picture I'd have cropped about and inch or so from each side and your photo would've looked bigger and the mountain still shown.  Perhaps something to keep in mind for your next photo.  

Everything is sacred

Kids vs. Adults.

I wish students at US schools have a similar opportunities that adults have.  Adults have an option to choose their own friends and communicate with people they like.  This is not the case for school kids.  They have to attend a class of 30 students with different mentalities, and sometimes with strong influences from their strange parents.

I don't think that all kids are fortunate to attend private schools customized based on their own ego especially those in New York City. 

"It's not about what we believe. It's more about how we behave and influence." Comments

Thank you friends for the kind words

Mammad Agaha:  Yes, it is me climbing in Lee Vining CA a few years back. 

Vildemose jaan: I agree that a bit of a time out from all the bickering will do us all good.  Well said.

Dear Yolanda: I am glad you like it and appreciate it your kind word and hope.  My flying to Iran would require more planning and certainly will take much more time the commercial flights  but it will be a fun journey.

Rtaybebi1:  Thank you, I am glad you enjoy it.  What is your next adventure?

JahanKhalili:  At last we find something in agreement   You are very correct and I believe this is the biggest gift and what this society has to offer and a prime reason for much of the success that the citizen of this nation has had.

Dear comment: to answer your question
“wouldn't you think that we didn't have to follow those boundaries because we were a new member of this society”
I don’t believe this was the case for me.  I didn’t have my parents living here but that did not help them to relinquish their sphere influence.  This was especially true when it came to marriage (time wise).

I believe the biggest factor for me was that I learned there exists other colors in the world beside what I had come to learn and know of.  So, once the chain was broken I was not going to be put back on it.

'Hambastegi' is the main key to victory 

Mehrdad

Great refreshing blog

Thank you. Is that a picture of you?

Mammad

What a wonderful blog. So

What a wonderful blog. So refreshing from all the bickerings that goes on here. Thank you. 

"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." - Louis D. Brandeis

........

What a great blog! Thank you!

My favorite quotes:

To weep is to risk being vulnerable
To reach out is to risk rejection
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self
To love is to risk your heart
To try is to risk failure…

Those who risk nothing do nothing, have nothing, give nothing.

It is so true! Thank you for sharing!

I hope Iran is freed soon, so you can fly there.........your plane can touch down in your homeland...that will be so cool! You can do an aerial photo essay to record your nostalgic & sentimental journey......

    So you will fly to Iran from US? I heard from Dubai to Iran is about 30 minutes of flight.....

I hope your dream comes true soon!

Mehrdad jaan

great great blog, with all the scary news, I needed some sweets. I hope U do get to fly over Iran soon.

You Wrote:

"As an Iranian, much like most other Middle Eastern and more traditional societies, life to a great degree will be decided for us at the early age.  From early on, we are told what to study, what jobs should and when to get married not to mention who to marry.

Here in US,  it is much easier to break from those chains of the established rules and boundaries and one can follow his/her dreams far easier without being judged harshly or pressured or even outcast by the family."

Amen, amen and amen! 

Very Nice

Thanks for writing it.

Great blog.

"From early on, we are told what to study, what jobs should and when to get married not to mention who to marry. Here in US,  it is much easier to break from those chains of the established rules and boundaries and one can follow his/her dreams far easier without being judged harshly or pressured or even outcast by the family."

Just as a possibility: wouldn't you think that we didn't have to follow those boundaries because we were a new member of this society.  I know Americans who still struggle with those boundaries because they are surrounded by many members of their family, friends and relatives.  They need to stick to boundries and be judged if they want to stay with their families.  Finally, I wonder if I was pressured less in these types of subjects in the US because I didn't have anyone to pressure me, or because I live in a free society.  Probably both. 

"It's not about what we believe. It's more about how we behave and influence." Comments

Much-loved quote.

My much-loved quote from the poster:

"To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self".  Too sad for poor followers who are not going to see their true self. 

"It's not about what we believe. It's more about how we behave and influence." Comments